The Dear Leader

[George Garnett]

Are we going to do Kim Jong-il?

I only met him perhaps half a dozen times so can't claim to have known him well. Say what you like about him though, he did always manage to get his train to run on time.

[Bryn]

Are we going to do Kim Jong-il?

I only met him perhaps half a dozen times so can't claim to have known him well. Say what you like about him though, he did always manage to get his train to run on time.

Sorry George, I've been glued to this:

http://112.170.78.145:50000/chosun

Perhaps you could tell us, who composed the orchestral music which turns up from time to time, was it by the Dear Leader himself, taking time out from writing his operas?

[Bryn]

Oh, and should anyone here be contemplating writing an opera, the Dear Leader has some tips for you to bear in mind:

"In the first place, an opera singer must sing well. A stage actor's main task is to speak well and act well. While an opera singer's main task is to sing well. The opera singer has to sing while acting and act while singing. This is similar to the method of depiction used by stage and film actors who speak while acting and act while speaking....If singing is to be supported properly by acting, the distinctive features of opera acting should be understood. It is easy to act while speaking but it is not easy to act while singing."

[Jim Penn]

Kim Jong Il and singing? That can only lead to one particular item, I'm afraid...

[Chakgogka]

I was having lunch in a restaurant with colleagues in Seoul today when the news was announced on the TV, followed by the usual talking heads discussing the issue. The really remarkable thing that all of us (westerners) noticed and commented on was that our fellow (South Korean) diners seemed completely uninterested in the news. There were no comments made or apparent interest shown; in fact we seemed to be the only people in the restaurant even looking at the TV. A little later in the university cafeteria, there were no heated debates or anxious speculation - from the Koreans, that is - while we were all exchanging pet theories about "what happens next". For everyone else it was just another chilly day getting closer to the end of the semester...

[Selva Oscura]

I was having lunch in a restaurant with colleagues in Seoul today when the news was announced on the TV, followed by the usual talking heads discussing the issue. The really remarkable thing that all of us (westerners) noticed and commented on was that our fellow (South Korean) diners seemed completely uninterested in the news. There were no comments made or apparent interest shown; in fact we seemed to be the only people in the restaurant even looking at the TV. A little later in the university cafeteria, there were no heated debates or anxious speculation - from the Koreans, that is - while we were all exchanging pet theories about "what happens next". For everyone else it was just another chilly day getting closer to the end of the semester...

That's rather strange, given that one of the possible outcomes might be a power struggle in the DPRK, which surely could be a step towards the eventual destabilisation and collapse of the régime.

[Chakgogka]

I was having lunch in a restaurant with colleagues in Seoul today when the news was announced on the TV, followed by the usual talking heads discussing the issue. The really remarkable thing that all of us (westerners) noticed and commented on was that our fellow (South Korean) diners seemed completely uninterested in the news. There were no comments made or apparent interest shown; in fact we seemed to be the only people in the restaurant even looking at the TV. A little later in the university cafeteria, there were no heated debates or anxious speculation - from the Koreans, that is - while we were all exchanging pet theories about "what happens next". For everyone else it was just another chilly day getting closer to the end of the semester...

That's rather strange, given that one of the possible outcomes might be a power struggle in the DPRK, which surely could be a step towards the eventual destabilisation and collapse of the régime.

That was my thinking too. However, I don't think the explanation is too hard to find. Just a few months ago an island on the south side of the maritime military boundary was shelled by the north causing civilian and military deaths; two years ago there was a naval skirmish leading to fatalities and in the years since the 1953 Armistice there have been countless incidents that might have seen the Korean War kick off again, including  the 1987 bombing of a S. Korean airliner by agents of the north and a bombing in Burma in 1983, also carried out by N. Korean agents which killed 21 people, including 3 S. Korean cabinet ministers. In other words, they've been here so many times before - including, of course, when Kim Il Sung died in 1994 which led in the north to this scarcely credible outpouring of grief.

[simon howard]

In the whole period of his protracted revolutionary guidance, he valued and loved the people very much and always shared weal and woe with them. He continued to make difficult forced march for field guidance, making unremitting efforts and working heart and soul to build a thriving country and improve the standard of people’s living. He died from repeated mental and physical fatigue on a train in that course.

http://blog.cpgb-ml.org/official-notice-of-the-death-of-comrade-kim-jong-il/

[oliver sudden]

I only met him perhaps half a dozen times so can't claim to have known him well.

All right, I'll bite. Are you allowed to tell us more about this or are those meetings subject to the 30-year-rule?

[Bryn]

In the whole period of his protracted revolutionary guidance, he valued and loved the people very much and always shared weal and woe with them. He continued to make difficult forced march for field guidance, making unremitting efforts and working heart and soul to build a thriving country and improve the standard of people’s living. He died from repeated mental and physical fatigue on a train in that course.

http://blog.cpgb-ml.org/official-notice-of-the-death-of-comrade-kim-jong-il/

Good heavens, so Harpal Brar has moved on from reprinting the Selected Works of Joseph Stalin to setting up a CPGB(M-L), has he? I lost track of his activity when he joined up with Arthur Scargill. I see Arthur seems to have got shot of him.

[simon howard]

Good heavens, so Harpal Brar has moved on from reprinting the Selected Workd of Joseph Stalin to setting up a CPGB(M-L), has he? I lost track of his activity when he joined up with Arthur Scargill. I see Arthur seems to have got shot of him.

The Stalin Society flourishes, however http://www.stalinsociety.org.uk/

As does Joti Brar (Harpal's daughter). Her George Orwell - Anti-communist propagandist, champion of Trotskyism and state informer looks particularly tempting .

[simon howard]

Pyongyang, December 19 (KCNA) -- National funeral committee will be made up of following persons:

http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2011/201112/news19/20111219-06ee.html

[Chakgogka]

Pyongyang, December 19 (KCNA) -- National funeral committee will be made up of following persons:

http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2011/201112/news19/20111219-06ee.html

If I attempt to access that site from Seoul, I get the following warning page instead:



The text translates as:

KCSC Warning
Concerning the blocking of illegal/harmful information (websites)
We advise you that the information (website) you are trying to access provides content which is illegal/harmful and access to this information (website) has been blocked.
This information (website) has undergone deliberation by the Korea Communications Commission and has been legally blocked in accordance with the laws related to the establishment and operation of the Korea Communications Commission. Any inquiries should be directed to the responsible agencies listed below.

(There then follow the relevant police contact numbers)

[simon howard]

(There then follow the relevant police contact numbers)

Oh dear . It's not that gripping, though you may wish to know

Pyongyang, December 19 (KCNA) -- DPRK Premier Choe Yong Rim on Dec. 16 sent a congratulatory message to Elio Di Rupo upon his appointment as prime minister of Belgium.
The message wished the prime minister success in his work for the development and prosperity of the country.
Meanwhile, DPRK Foreign Minister Pak Ui Chun sent a congratulatory message to Didier Reynders upon his appointment as foreign minister of Belgium on the same day.

(Do you think the .jp domain name is to do with the blocking of the site elsewhere?)

[Chakgogka]

(Do you think the .jp domain name is to do with the blocking of the site elsewhere?)

No, I don't think so. South Korea's National Security Law forbids the "Creation, Importation, Copying, Possession, Transportation, Distribution, and Selling of "Enemy's Expressions"". Under this clause, all pro-north websites are banned, and the High Court has also classified about 1,200 books as "Enemy's Expressions". An attempt about 7 years ago to reform or abolish the law failed, due to strong conservative opposition.